Happy Trails
Latest OC Fitness Initiative Debuts This Year

Construction began last month on new campus trails that will promote fitness on campus and further connect Oklahoma Christian with the surrounding community.

The side-by-side asphalt and crushed granite trails will span a distance of three miles around the campus and feature lighting, landscaping and five security phones.

It will connect with the growing Edmond trails system and, eventually, with the Oklahoma City trails system.

A $605,000 grant by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and about $500,000 from private donors funded the project.

Oklahoma Christian will host an inaugural fun run/walk this fall to help dedicate the trail.

Recent fitness initiatives, led by “Team OC,” have benefitted the campus and community. Each year, more than 500 students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends participate in the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon, sometimes ranking as the biggest group in the event.

“The idea of the trail came along as the popularity of Team OC grew,” said OC dean of students Neil Arter (90), who spearheaded the trails initiative. “We were encouraging people to get active and run, but that meant that we had more people running on campus.”